Women Who Kill

Definition

Murder is the killing of one human by another. The judicial system decides whether the act is criminal, justifiable, or excusable. In order to convict a murderer, the prosecution must prove both intent and premeditation. Some jurisdictions distinguish between firstdegree murder, which requires both intent and premeditation, and second-degree murder, which requires only intent. Although it is possible to kill someone either by negligence or use of a motor vehicle, such occurrences are not necessarily considered murder. Despite the various definitions of murder, however, females who kill have many similarities.

Commonalities

Although films featuring murderous females have proved widely popular (e.g., Fatal Attraction, Thelma and Louise, Single White Female), they do not accurately reflect the reality of women who commit murder. While black men have the highest rate of homicide offenses in the United States, black females have the second highest rate of homicide—a truism not accurately reflected by cinematic images of women who kill. Regardless of ethnicity, females who kill probably come from the lower or working class, have survived a suicide attempt, and have attacked a male with a criminal record. A female convicted of murder is typically in her early thirties, mother of more than one child, and a survivor of sexual or physical abuse. More likely than not, she has low self-esteem, was introduced to a life of crime in her teens by a male, and has abused alcohol or illegal drugs. These women tend not to have graduated from high school and have few work-related skills.

Reasons for Killing

Even though it is fairly easy to describe the common backgrounds of violent women, it is much more difficult to generalize about their motives. While religious texts such as the Bible clearly record the first instance of male perpetrated homicide, ancient tales of female killers are less common. Early explorations of homicidal women focused on physical and psychological descriptions. For example, female offenders were thought to have measurably different brain sizes, facial planes, and facial bone weight than did their peers. These measurements were thought to vary among offender types, with murderesses being average in all respects. Early explanations for female criminal behavior included nymphomania, hysteria, and delirium—variables seldom thought to inspire criminal activity in men.

Historical accounts of women who killed during the 1800s record some of the first instances of women acting in defense of marital abuse and killing their husbands—an explanation for homicide that remains today. It was not until the 1980s, however, that courts began to allow women charged with killing their abusive partners to invoke the battered woman's defense. This defense is based on the theory that after prolonged periods of emotional or physical abuse, an abused partner or wife could justifiably murder her abuser, in selfdefense, in defense of her children, or as a method of preventing further abuse.

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